Antonio Vojak (, ; 19 November 1904 – 9 May 1975) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker or

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. His playing career was played out during the 1920s and 1930s. He is most noted for his time with Italian sides

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

and

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, for the latter of which he scored 102 goals. His younger brother Oliviero Vojak played professionally as well, for Juventus and Napoli. To distinguish them, Antonio was known as Vojak I and Oliviero as Vojak II.

Career

Vojak was born in

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...

, now in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

but then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, and later ceded to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

in 1918. Vojak's football career started with

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

during the 1924–25 season, his stay there was very short; playing only 10 games but scoring 7 goals. This caught the attention of

, who signed up Vojak within that year. During his three-year stay with the

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

ese team, Vojak was part of a squad which won the

Italian Football Championship Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

in 1926, amassing 46 goals in 102 games for the club in total. He moved on next to

, playing in a squad that featured

Attila Sallustro Attila Sallustro (; 15 December 1908 – 28 May 1983) was a professional Italian–Paraguayan footballer who played as a striker. He is considered an important player in S.S.C. Napoli's history, and became extremely popular with the fans durin ...

. He stayed with the club until 1935, scoring over 100 goals for them. Vojak also appeared for the

Italian national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body ...

once in 1932 where he played

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

in the silver winning 1931-32 Central European International Cup campaign. Due to

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

anti-slav laws, he was forced to use the name ''Vogliani''. After leaving Napoli, Vojak played only two more seasons; first with

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and then with Lucchese-Libertas in 1936–37 where he played only 1 game. After retiring, he served as a manager. He died in 1975.

Honours

;Juventus *

: 1925–26

International

;

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Central European International Cup The European International Cup of Nations was an international football competition held by certain national teams from Central Europe & South Europe between 1927 and 1960.Leo Schidrowitz "Internationaler Cup", Vienna 1954 There were competitions f ...

: Runner-up: 1931-32

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vojak, Antonio 1904 births 1977 deaths Sportspeople from Pula Italian footballers Serie A players Serie C players Juventus F.C. players S.S.C. Napoli players S.S.C. Napoli managers Genoa C.F.C. players S.S.D. Lucchese 1905 players S.S. Lazio players People from Istria People from Austrian Littoral Italy international footballers Italian people of Croatian descent Istrian Italian people Association football forwards Association football midfielders Italian football managers

Career

Honours

International

See also

References